The simplest holiday
decorations are often the most charming. For a sleek contemporary holiday look,
create your own feathered wreath, table-top tree and decorations.
Feather
wreaths are a huge trend in home decor, and they make stunning accessories for
any season. They are absolutely spectacular poised on a fireplace mantel, centered
over a large mirror, on a door or hooked casually over a chair.
Festive feather wreaths are graceful yet quite easy to make. Trim any excess fuzz
or unwanted tips off of the feathers. Sort them by size and length.
Start by gluing
similar feathered lengths horizontally along the four exterior sides of the Styrofoam
square base. Using a glue gun with low-temperature glue sticks, glue the feathers
on flat on their lengths, side by side in two rows. Do the same thing to cover
the square opening of the wreath's base.
To cover the front
surface area of the wreath base, apply a row of feathers along the centre, gluing
them one at a time side-by-side, but just the tip part. Start at one end and work
your way around the whole base. Add a second layer of feathers to overlap the
first row in the same manner, but this time along and around the centre opening
border of the base.
Once completed, check the wreath, you might need to secure some feathers with
a bit more glue. If you wish, you can secure a wire loop in the back of the wreath
for hanging.
For the finishing,
I added a plain, deep-chocolate-brown satin ribbon with a bow.
A feathered wreath
will last for years. Each holiday, you can give it a fresh new look by just decorating
it with a variety of different accessories. Leave the wreath plain or include
assorted embellishments such as colourful miniature balls, fresh ivy, a feathered
bird, berry clusters, bows and creative wire ornaments.
If you use feather
wreaths outdoors, be sure to place them under a covered porch area to avoid direct
sunlight or snow. You will want a feather wreath for every season, to hang over
a door, on a wall or over a mirror. They make wonderful gifts, too.
Tabletop tree: To make a small cone tree covered with feathers, start by applying
a row of feathers with a glue gun at the bottom of the cone base, and keep adding
overlapping rows of feathers until the cone base is completely covered all the
way to the top. To minimize cost, you can buy an inexpensive feather boa, secure
one end to the base with florist's pins or glue, wrap it around the cone shape
and tuck in the end to secure it onto the base.
I applied family
photographs of past Christmases onto self-hardening clay circle and square shapes
to create an advent calendar tree and attached them onto a white feathered tabletop
tree using decorative pins.
Variations: Festive
feather wreaths can also be quite dramatic in other colours such as plume, burgundy,
red, pink, purple, brown, green, you get the picture. Or mix and blend colours
to achieve a two tone or multicoloured presentation.
Feathered wreaths can stylishly adorn a decorative ladder, be used as a base for
a large pillar candle which is inside a hurricane or a plain glass base vase.
Use feathered wreath to décor your home all year round, a super cute touch
on young children’s bedroom doors, such as baby pink or purple.
Use feathers as
accents to trim napkin rings, or to grace each table setting, garnish the top
of Christmas stockings and gifts.
Assorted feathers types can also be found in party supply or customs stores.
Copyright
MaddyLane Designs/Miy Decorations © 2008
No portion of this article is to be copied or published without permission.
